A surprise cancer diagnosis would shake up anyone’s world. But for Lynda Nijensohn, that shakeup has been reason to change life in positive ways, too.

Nijensohn admits she was shocked when she learned, as a 34-year-old mother, that she had cancer, but her battle against the disease soon turned into something more. She took the recovery as an opportunity to start running, which has now become a way to raise money to help others fight back.